Tuesday, September 9, 2008

Sky-High Strawberry ShortcakeIt's like eating a cloud of summer

I'm sad that summer is ending.

Okay, let me say that I live in LOS ANGELES. Yes, the land of beaches, Hollywood, too much Botox, and Disneyland. I'm a native and love it. I've seen snow about 15 times in my entire life. I went years without owning an umbrella because it rains only a few days a year. I think the average year-round temp here is 70 degrees. Thus, Summer moving into Fall doesn't really make much difference.

But my summer fruits, the ultimate symbol of summer, are going away and that makes me sad.

No more apricots around, and the peaches are getting a bit mealy. Last month, every stand had strawberries...now only two. I know the whole Lion King circle of life fruit thing, but I'm still sad.

Here is probably one of the last California summer strawberry desserts of the year...(and, omg, the most delicious and beautiful!!!)

Earlier, I made that awesome Chai Tea three layer cake. Today, I made the Sky-High Strawberry Shortcake from Alisa Huntsman's book, Sky High Cakes: Irresistible Triple-Layer Cakes (page 89). This book is so amazing. The Sky-High Strawberry Shortcake is on the cover - I mean, this is totally a cover girl cake, no?

My organic California strawberries were hulled, sliced and macerated in sugar, rosewater and vanilla for 1 hour before assembly. I love rose water and I especially like going to my local Halal store to buy it - I love the saffron ice cream and many guava and mango juices available at the market.

At first, I thought the vanilla was a bit too much when I ate a strawberry, but after it sits on the cake for a bit, it mellows out.

This is a 6" cake. I had one 6x3 MagicLine pan but this recipe sent me (very, very happily) back to Surfas for two 6x2 pans. This is an adorable size for cakes!

The cake uses cake flour and buttermilk for a nice vanilla cake. Next time, I might use vanilla paste so I can get those little flecks of vanilla bean in the batter. Filled with strawberries and fresh whipped cream (with sugar and vanilla), it is heaven on a plate.

My new Tupperware cake taker (whew, bought one of the last aqua ones - Tupperware has switched to an alarming yellow product) was too short for this literally sky-high cake. I had to dig out my old Rubbermaid carrier to hold this sky scraper of a cake.

The only problem happened 100 feet from work. I made a quick right-turn and then come upon a light...in front of the Sheriff station. I'm extra cautious and, not wanting to sit in traffic school again, I break for the yellow. And I look down at my little cake..and it is a study in fractions. 1/3 is on the plate and 2/3 is not. Ugh. But I got to work and pushed all back together!

Say farewell to summer!

Last time, the author actually commented on my blog! Her blog says "To see it for sale in stores and on the internet is incredible; to see it in use by other bakers, now that is a thrill." So...Buy Alisa's book and thrill her with some cakes!

That is absolutely gorgeous. The strawberries are one of the things I miss about living in southern California. One of the summers I was there I completely OD'd on strawberries--it was a couple of years before I could stand to look at them again. =)

I was shocked to see super-plump strawberries both in the Central Coast and in SD... looks like the last of the season will be pretty decent. San Diego kicked off summer with some pretty mediocre strawberries, so it's nice to see that they're going out with a bang. Your cake is unbelievably beautiful! I'm looking forward to the melons and squashes of fall. Living in CA definitely has its fruitful advantages!

Leah,You can find rose water at any market that caters to populations from Middle/Near east or India. I'm not sure where in LA you are but Westwood has a large Persian population so those stores would have it. There are many Indians in Cerritos and Artesia. Also, Surfas Restaurant Supply in Culver City (www.surfas.com) has it. Anyone that sells Halal meat products (for the Muslim population) sells it too. I think some gourmet stores might carry it as well since it is more widely used. I bought mine in the South Bay and I'm so sorry I can't remember the name!

What a gorgeous summer send off. That looks better than anything that you can buy anywhere. I miss California strawberries. I used to buy a half flat everytime we were driving home from Huntington beach.

It's so pretty! I'm sad summer is ending too. I'm actually looking forward to cooler weather (yeah for scarves and boots!) but I am not looking forward to the scarcity of fresh fruit and vegetables at the grocery store.

We are hosting a "cookie sale" to help support a family that has four small children (all under age six) and two parents who were critically injured in a small plane accident. (More on the Nielsen family at http://cjanerun.com)

If you would like to help, feel free to visit http://xomissl2.blogspot.com